Den of Thieves plays like a low rent version of Heat. It has lofty, ambitious aims that sometimes act as a hindrance. (There’s no reason this thing needed to be nearly two and a half hours.) However, when it hits the sweet spot between trashy potboiler and well-oiled thriller, the results are often electric.
Gerard Butler is the disheveled and slimy head of the Los Angeles Major Crimes Unit who is trying to nab a crew of elite bank robbers. He’s able to get to O’Shea Jackson, the gang’s getaway driver, and force him to turn stoolie. Meanwhile, the head of the gang (Pablo Schreiber) is setting his sights on robbing the Federal Reserve. It’s then up to Butler and his crew to take them down.
The film sometimes feels like an assembly cut as there are subplots and scenes that really don’t need to be there (like the scene where 50 Cent uses the crew to intimidate his daughter’s prom date and/or all the stuff with Butler’s messy personal life). I’m not saying these scenes are bad or anything, but they get in the way of the cops and robbers hijinks. That said, there still are plenty of good individual scenes in the midst of the action. I especially liked the part where Butler and Schreiber silently intimidate one another while at a shooting range.
Butler is a lot of fun to watch as he goes all in on the character’s grimy persona. Jackson fares well too as the young criminal in over his head. Schreiber kind of looks like Matthew Fox’s evil twin and delivers a strong turn as the ringleader of the gang. 50 Cent isn’t given a whole lot to do as Schreiber’s second in command, but his presence alone gives the film a boost.
The final robbery and shootout scenes are solid. The big Keyser Soze twist is maybe less so. However, nitpicks aside, Den of Thieves is a winner.
AKA: Criminal Squad.
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